St. Patrick Was a Welshman

Well, perhaps he was. We’re certain that Patrick was not Irish-born, but Wales, Scotland and England all claim to be his birthplace. Wales seems to have the better evidence, although even that is scanty and ancient.

What we know for certain is that Patrick was of ancient Briton stock and likely from a wealthy family. In the dying days of Romano-Britain, the likelihood is that he spoke his native Brythonic as well as Latin, the lingua franca of the Empire.

Patrick was sixteen when he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery to care for sheep on the cold and lonely slopes of County Antrim. Bringing in foreigners to do unpleasant work is no new concept.

Alone in the wilds, Patrick turned to prayer and meditation. Ultimately he escaped and went to France where he studied for the priesthood. Soon enough, however, he felt compelled to return to Ireland to preach Christianity to his pagan captors. That he succeeded abundantly is beyond dispute.

It’s often said that St. Patrick’s greatest lesson was using the shamrock to illustrate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Certainly the idea of taking a simple, everyday object to illustrate a complex idea is central to effective communication. But I don’t think it was really Patrick’s most valuable lesson.

The vital lesson which Patrick taught us by his life is the beauty and the power of courage. Few are the examples of someone choosing to return to a place of cruelty and bitterness to repay their wrongdoers with kindness and good news. Patrick’s is one such.

St. Patrick’s new Ireland was soon such a centre of learning and culture in a savage age of barbarism that Thomas Cahill in his brilliant work “How the Irish Saved Civilization” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Irish_Saved_Civilization) could properly say that it was Ireland which kept alive the learning of the West.

May we all have Patrick’s courage.